Bumblebee's Promise
by Darth Echo
Summary: Bumblebee and Echo are two young bots fighting for the Autobot cause. When they find themselves growing ever closer, they struggle to find the perfect balance between duty and their bond. Will a tragic event turn both of their worlds upside down and destroy everything they worked so hard to build?
1. Chapter 1: Fate

**Revised March 31st, 2016**

Hello readers! It's back! I took this story down probably over a year ago but now it's back and better than ever. I ran a poll asking what you guys wanted to see and here you go. Bumblebee's Promise is the first fan fiction I ever wrote on this website and I hope to keep it running from now on. This does follow the original storyline, but it goes further into depth, greater detail, more drama, more romance, etc. Now, you'll see that I put dates saying when the chapter was revised. This is just to help me keep track of everything and so you all know how long of a process it is to write and edit these chapters XD.

 **Warning:** This story is rated T, but will go up in future chapters. I will leave a notice and warning for those chapters so you can decided whether or not you want to read them. This story does deserve a T rating as there is Cybertronian cursing, violence, and suggestive themes. Chapters with more detailed versions of these three things will be rated M. I do not own Transformers: Prime or its characters. I only own my characters and the plot that I come up with.

Please feel free to leave a review and let me know your thoughts after reading :) I do appreciate positive feedback and constructive criticism, as I am always trying to improve my writing skills. And now, I give to you, the story of Bumblebee's promise.

 **Chapter One: Fate**

As though Unicron himself had been woken from the Dead to hack revenge upon Primus, the bombs rained down like meteors from the Pit. The crystalline city of Praxus glowed orange from the surface and high into the atmosphere. Screams of horror seeped through and spread to the next city-states and beyond, echoing in the booming explosions. Even the more rural areas of the city endured the fire from hell.

Praxians ran from their homes and in every direction, carrying offspring and possessions. Looters and homeless Cybertronians ran into abandoned buildings, some that were still on fire. Police officers blocked certain streets that led to fallen structures or broken bridges. Alarms blared throughout Praxus, a plea of help to the Autobots.

A dark, brooding cloud known as the Devastator idled above Town Center, firing off gas bombs and fusion cannons. Squads of Seekers formed at the top of the Decepticon warship and made off towards the streets below. They searched homes and shops for signs of Autobot contraband. Anyone found in possession of an insignia was dragged out onto the curb and promptly executed.

A young femme ran down the sidewalk against the mob of civilians. Her optics narrowed at the bring orange flames consuming her city-state and she coughed from the suffocating black smoke. She grunted as much larger mechs and femmes pushed past her roughly. The silver femme with black hair maneuvered to the side and clung to the nearest wall, hoping it would spare her from the stampede. Her tail swayed to and fro as she climbed the wall using an oil pipe, her sharp digits digging into the metal.

Bright blue optics dull and damp from shock stared out at the massive crowd trying to escape Praxus. Decepticons were hauling sparklings away from their mothers and throwing them on transports to be taken to concentration camps. There, they'd be brainwashed, tortured, and forced to work for the Decepticons.

The young femme shook her helm and was about to accept her fate.

A loud explosion made every bot turn their helms. When the femme looked in the direction everyone had been running away from, her optics widened in both surprise and pure joy. An Autobot transport dropped down in the middle of the street, the white insignia shining bright. Multiple Cons made a run for it, but the highly trained scouts jumping off shot them down quickly. Civilians cried out to Primus in thanks and stopped running in a mob as their torturers were subdued by the Autobots.

The Decepticons put up a fight, but were ultimately sent to the Pits. The young femme watched the valiant heroes with great admiration, memorizing their moves and techniques. Her young processor took in as much information as possible, her fascination for the Autobot cause increasing. With determined optics, she glanced at the Autobot insignia, making a vow to Primus and her people.

 _5 years later…_

Those same blue eyes now analyzed the forests of Cybertron from the Autobot transport. Her cat-like ears were flat to protect themselves from the gust of wind and constant chatter of the pilots. A modified sniper rifle sat in her lap, it's muzzle pointed out towards the open side of the ship and cocked ready for a firefight at any moment. Five years of cadet school had trained her for this very moment: the day she would be assigned to a squad and join the fight.

"They call you Echo, right?" A male Iaconian called out to her. He was about her age as well; lapis blue eyes, gray protoform, and olive green armor. The femme nodded without looking at him, her tail thumping against the seat next to her. A stray piece of hair escaped her braid and flew in her face, though she made no move to put it back.

Echo's jet black armor reflected the sunset glow. The military-grade plates covered all but her tail and face, leaving no vulnerability. Even then, she had a semi-transparent battlemask that covered her nose up and displayed a green HUD. The Autobots never cheated out with their armor and equipment, knowing it could mean life or death in this war.

The Iaconian eyed her out, curious to her isolated personality. "You excited to meet the Commander?" He asked, putting a smile with it. The mech carried an assault rifle with him, also modified and heavily painted with symbols and tally marks. Echo glanced at this, taking in its features before looking up at him. "I'm excited to get to the front," she said casually, showing no emotion. Her fellow Autobot chuckled. "I wouldn't rush if I were you," he said, "Becoming a warrior takes a lot of time and patience. Some bots don't even get promoted past scout."

Echo smirked and her tail flickered, "I intend not to be one of them." Her ears perked up when the pilot spoke over the intercom. "Alright, kids, we're about a cycle out from the base. Make sure you're prepared to get off asap. I have a patrol shift after this." Echo and her new friend went silent for a couple moments before the mech turned to her. "How'd you get your name?" he asked with curious blue optics. The femme smiled and glanced outside, seeing the grounds of the Autobot base growing larger.

Picking up the sniper rifle and peeking through the sight, Echo spotted a cyberfox in the woods below. Looking back at the green mech, she said, "That's all the enemy hears before I take their lights out."


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting Bumblebee

**Chapter Two: Meeting Bumblebee**

Bumblebee looked down at his hands as he sat on his bunk at the base. Everyone else had left to go to target and drill practice with the new recruits that were arriving any minute now. But all Bumblebee wanted was to learn the truth about his past and why he was here and what he was fighting for. The arrival of the new soldiers brought back memories of how he came to be an Autobot. Optimus Prime and his weapons specialist, Ironhide, had brought him here nine years ago when he was six stellar cycles old, but he didn't have any memories of what occurred before that.

 _Where is my mother? Who am I?_

A knock at the door pulled Bee from his thoughts. "Hello," the Autobot before him greeted. Smiling, Bumblebee stood up and hugged his older brother, Buzzer, who had just come back from the front in time to train the recruits. "Buzz," he asked as Buzzer embraced him, "What am I doing here?" The bronze mech let go of his sibling and sat down on a bed, patting the space next to him. "Sit," he ordered in his I-need-to-have-a-talk-with-you voice.

"What do you mean?" Buzz asked, sighing. Bumblebee obeyed the command and folded his servos in his lap. "Why am I here?" Buzzer answered for him, looking towards his kin. Bee scoffed and nodded. "Why did my-," he stopped to glance at Buzzer, "our-mother abandon me?" The elder mech almost choked up at seeing Bumblebee so…depressed. Bumblebee was _never_ depressed. "She didn't," Buzz mumbled, almost not wanting Bee to hear it.

"What?!" Bumblebee's sorrow began to turn to confusion and anger. All these stellar cycles and his brother did not tell him the truth? Why wouldn't he? "But you told me that Optimus Prime and Ironhide found me in a box on the streets next to a couple bolts and empty energon cubes."

"Bee," Buzz shouted in his military voice as if Bumblebee was still a cadet. He stood up and walked past the rows of empty beds and storage, not knowing if he should speak the truth. "She died."

Words could not describe the expression on Bumblebee's face when he processed the information. "Did you just say-"

"I said nothing," Buzzer turned and headed out of the room, leaving the young soldier to mope. Sighing, he let the coolant tear escape his optic, the droplet falling onto the berth. He began to sniffle and covered his eyes, wiping the streak away. _Nothing, sure._ With a grunt, he let his servos rest on his legs and he quickly blinked the coolant away.

He felt useless. Why else would a carrier abandon her sparkling in a ditch? Bumblebee questioned his place in the world and if he really had anything to fight for. All he had was Buzzer, but even then, Buzzer was gone more solar cycles out of a stellar cycle than he was there. It was a consequence of war and another thing that made the young mech hate fighting in it.

" **Attention!"** Bee's comm. almost caused him to jump. " **Attention! All Autobots to the mess hall!"**

Collecting himself, Bumblebee heading out the door to see what else he would be ordered to do. Dozens of soldiers ran past him, some shoving and pushing Bee out of the way. It didn't help being the smallest bot on base.

As he continued on his way, Bumblebee noticed someone else wasn't running like the others. Dropping his jaw, he stared at the femme. Bee's blue optics widened, looking at the curves and outlines of the black fembot. _A tail?_ The thin, long black appendage flickered when the Autobot stopped, noticing that she was being watched. _Yep, that's hot._ She turned her head to only further discover the features of this young femme.

Echo stopped looking around when she spotted the mech. There was something familiar about him and made her curious. Sheathing her battlemask, Echo studied him for a nano-klik, trying to rack her processor for information on him. He was a young mech, about her age, with a strong build and yellow and black paint job. But when she looked at his optics, that was when the realization hit.

"Are you related to Buzzer by any chance?" She asked. The mech looked just like him, though his eyes were bigger, the paint job was different, and he was significantly shorter, about her height. Echo smiled, seeing that he wasn't responding to her question at all. Was he deaf? A lot of bots lost their hearing in battle, so it was rather common.

Bumblebee was not deaf...except for right now. Add being momentarily blind from looking at her.

Her cat-like ears and fanged smile were absolutely captivating. But the most optic-catching feature was her striking blue eyes, looking right at _him_. _Wait, is she saying something to me?_ Her lips mouthed something, but Bee didn't hear a word she said. _Oh Primus! My mouth is still open and I'm still in dreamland._

"I'm sorry," Bee shyly said, rubbing the back of his neck with his servo. "I didn't hear that last part." He placed his look from her to his feet, not wanting to show her the embarrassment in his optics. The femme only laughed, admiring how he could turn so red. _Great!_ "Or the part before that," Bee added whilst forcing a small chuckle.

"That's okay," she said, shrugging her shoulders. It wasn't the first time she had a mech look at her like that. Many times she would ignore it or give the bot a disgusted look...but this time felt different. "I just wanted to know if you'll walk me to the mess hall. I don't know my way around here."

 _Did she just ask that?_ Bee's optics widened and looked at her. "I'm new here," she smiled and stepped closer to Bumblebee, raising his levels of nervous to a new record. She didn't mean to; she was just trying to get closer because there were so many bots pushing past her. "Sure," Bee said, smiling as best as he could. "Oh, I'm Echo," she stuck out her servo. "Bumblebee," Bee said, shaking it with one of his significantly larger ones.

Echo nodded for Bumblebee to guide her, slowly pulling away her digits. "Are you related to Lieutenant Buzzer by any chance?" She asked, her faceplates sewn with curiosity. Bumblebee smiled, "Yep. How'd you know?" Echo chuckled and gestured towards his frame, "When I heard that I would be assigned to his platoon, I did some research on him. You both look a lot alike." The yellow mech nodded, "He's my older brother."

The black-armored femme grinned, "You're lucky you get to fight with him. I haven't seen my brother in almost six stellar cycles." Bumblebee frowned, "I'm sorry about that. But at least yours isn't your drill sergeant." He and Echo both laughed at this as they continued to walk down the hallway, occasionally being shoved past by someone.

"So, when did you get here?" Bee asked, trying to make up for staring at her like a love-struck sparkling. "About fifteen kliks," the femme angled her head in thought, "though my squad mates got here a few solar cycles ago." Again, she looked at Bee and smiled. He noticed and shied away, turning his attention to the bots running past him. "You don't run?" Echo asked. She looked forwards and seemed confused for a couple nano-kliks. "Not really," Bee sighed, "I don't like to rush." He glanced at Echo with a genuine smile. _Wow, I am not good with femmes._

"Sorry if I'm being too anti-social," Bumblebee surprised himself when he heard the words coming from his mouth. Echo giggled. _Did I say something wrong?_ "No problem," she said, bumping into him when someone shoved past her roughly. Bee bumped back into her on purpose, earning a shy smile from Echo. He smirked at her with a childish look. "What?" Echo nervously laughed, brushing her hairpiece out of her face, turning away from the yellow mech. "I thought I was shy," Bee laughed as they kept walking, getting strange looks from the other Autobots rushing past. Not only was Bumblebee rarely depressed, but he also _never_ talked to femmes unless he had to.

"We're here," Bee stopped and gestured towards the open doorway everyone was flying into. Before going in, Echo opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Smiling, she leaned over and gently kissed Bee on the faceplates. "Thanks for showing me around."

"Anytime," Bee said, with a surprised look on his face. _She kissed me!_ Echo walked through the doorway and stopped when Bumblebee called her name. "Would you like to listen to the meeting with me?" he asked while nervously rubbing his neck with his servo. "Yeah," Echo walked back over to Bee, her tail flicking nervously, "I would,". The two walked over to where Buzzer and the other leaders were giving a lecture.


	3. Chapter 3: Partners

**Chapter Three: Partners**

Echo and Bumblebee were stuck in the back of the giant mess hall, standing up on the tips of their peddes to see. In front of the crowd, Buzzer stood with a few high-ranking officers and a tall, older light blue mech. "Why is Ultra Magnus here?" Echo whispered to the yellow scout. His optics widened and he turned to her. "That's Ultra Magnus?"

"Mhmm," the femme answered casually, "I thought he was in charge of the Elite Guard." Bumblebee's helm snapped back to look at the legendary war hero. "Makes sense," the bot said, "You have to be pretty badass to get into that branch." Echo smirked at this, "Why, thank you."

Bumblebee looked at her with a confused expression, "Huh?" The silver femme smiled whilst using his shoulder to boost herself up, still trying to get a good look.

"I graduated from the Elite Guard Sniper Academy eight solar cycles ago," she responded as though it was a casual thing to say. Bumblebee pulled her down and she glanced at him. "Why are you here if you're an Elite Guardsman? We're a bunch of scouts and infantry bots."

"I'm going to need someone to watch my back," Echo teased, "Besides, I didn't want to become a leader; not in my coding. His sniper team is here to pick partners." The yellow and black mech chuckled at that and allowed her to use his shoulder again, letting go of her. "Partner, huh?"

Echo rolled her optics and her ears flicked so that she might be able to pick up what Magnus was saying with all the chatter in the room. "Don't get your hopes up, mech." With that, Bumblebee smirked and tried to listen as well.

"As some of you know," Buzzer spoke, "Optimus Prime has ordered us to expand the army as the Cons continue to build their new drones." Murmurs and whisperings of contempt for the morally imbalanced use of life on the Decepticons behalf rippled through the crowd.

"Luckily, instead of having to conscript a draft, we have enough volunteer recruits to meet the Autobot's needs."

Echo turned to Bumblebee, "They were going to pull a draft?" The yellow minibot nodded regretfully, "The Cons are either putting citizens into forced labor, fire pits, or conscripting sparklings into their military.

A look of pure shock and terror came over the femme's once stoic face. "Barbarians," she cried out in a whisper. Bumblebee nodded in agreement and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Ultra Magnus has been kind enough to offer training to these new recruits," Buzzer continued, "His sniper team will be assisting him and the best cadets will join their ranks as scouts." Bumblebee nudged Echo, "Sounds fancy."

The femme chuckled, "Remember, work hard and I might choose you as my partner." 'Bee smiled genuinely at that before looking back at the crowd.

The blue-armored Captain of the Guard stepped forward. "Alright, cadets, you'll become accustomed to how the Elite Guard lives, works, and breathes from now on. Tomorrow morning, my snipers and I expect you up bright and early at sunrise on the training fields for day one. Timing is the first step to becoming a sniper, so be there on point." He glanced around the room, "Dismissed."

Bumblebee and Echo grunted as they were pushed around by bigger bots. The yellow mech only saw flashes of the femme, but tried to get closer to her by shoving others out of the way.

Once he was within the right proximity, he grabbed her digits and pulled her towards him, earning a small yelp in surprise. "It's a stampede in here," Echo claimed, trying to ignore the fact that she was practically pulled up against the young Autobot's chest.

'Bee chuckled and gripped the femme by her waist, "You'll get used to it."

Once the crowd had thinned out significantly, Echo gently pulled away from Bumblebee, her eyes scanning for Ultra Magnus. "I have to speak with Magnus before I leave," she said, pointing to a group of bots a little older than her standing in conversation with the captain. Bumblebee nodded, "Okay, well, I'll see you at training tomorrow, then?"

Echo shook her head, "Uh, no, you still owe me a tour, cadet. Go talk with your brother until I'm done." A smirk creeped onto the mech's faceplates, "Is that an order?" The femme flicked her tail as she walked away, "I'll make it one, mech."

Stepping up to the group, Echo waited for her commanding officer to acknowledge her. His optics detected her and he gave a welcoming smile. The femme saluted crisply and smiled back. "How are the recruits?" Magnus inquired.

Lowering her servo, Echo stood up straight and lifted her helm. "Anxious for a good fight, sir. This batch will fit Optimus' standards and then some," she reported. The captain nodded, "And their resilience?"

A dark gray femme with glistening white armor stepped forward. "Though Echo's report reigns true, these cadets are far from ready," a glance from Echo pressed her to continue, "But, I believe their eagerness for battle will drive them to success."

Magus exchanged a look with both fembots before sighing. "Well, we start our work tomorrow. Make sure to be on the lookout for your future scouts: it's never too early to see leadership skills."

A mech with blue and gold armor tilted his helm. "Why are we picking our scouts from a bunch of civilians that volunteered barely ten solar cycles ago? Shouldn't we choose from the higher ranks of the Autobot Academy?"

Fellow snipers mumbled in agreement, including Echo. It really didn't make much sense to put inexperienced mech and femmes in black ops. Ultra Magnus vented rather annoyed and crossed his servos. "I have no knowledge of Optimus' current plans for the army, but we have our orders. Like I said, pick the best and brightest. Unless anyone else has concerns, you're dismissed."

The group began to splinter and go in separate directions. Echo turned to the white-armored femme and gave a smirk. "Such little hope for our fellow soldiers?" A chuckle came from the other bot, who rolled her optics playfully. "Oh, like you've been one to cheer on recruits."

"Athena, I take care of my team," Echo placed a servo over chest and pretended to look innocent. The other femme scoffed and looked at her friend with a grin, "Who's the mech?"

Black ears pricked up as Echo gave a puzzled face.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not stupid, E," Athena said, examining her digits nonchalantly, "You usually only act like this if you've seen a hot mech, so who is he?" The Praxian's ears flattened down and her tail drooped. Turning to her friend, the fembot spoke firmly in a low whisper. "Athena, you know why I don't pursue relationships."

Her face becoming serious once more, Athena nodded. "I know."

"Echo!"

Both bots glanced over their shoulders as the bronze-plated sergeant approached them. Echo's ears perked up and she gave the mech a genuine smile. Buzzer was known for his ability to rally courage amongst his soldiers, but infamous for the activities he partook in his off-duty hours. The lustful smirk he offered the femmes was the elephant in the room.

Echo and Athena glanced at each other knowingly, years of training side by side syncing their processors. They were young, good looking femmes who have seen this same look from mechs before, but from a superior, it was inappropriate and unwarranted.

Bumblebee paced at his brother's side, looking rather unhappy at what he was walking into.

"I'm shocked Magnus sent his rising star to train the canon fodder," Buzzer spoke smoothly, crossing his servos over his broad chest. He barely gave Athena a second glance, which allowed her a small glare his way without notice. Echo managed a fake laugh and shrugged, "I must have pissed someone off in Intelligence to get janitor duty."

Whether or not she intended to instigate a round of flirtatious jabs, it worked. Buzzer chuckled darkly and looked the femme up and down, appreciating her frame. "Ouch," he gave no pretend emotion of hurt, only intensified the glaze over his optics.

"Now, how would you two fembots like to join me at the bar for some high-grade?"

Athena was about to step forward and give a harsh rejection, but Echo saw the perfect opportunity to get rid of him without retort. Putting a servo out to stop her friend, the black-armored femme looked up at Buzzer with a smile.

"Sorry, sergeant, but I promised your brother I would let him show me around camp." With that, Echo turned to Bumblebee and gave a more warm smile, striding over to stand at his side.

Buzzer looked absolutely shocked that a femme had rejected him of all mechs. Unfolding his servos and staring wide-optic, he watched as the two left the mess hall, obviously laughing at what had just happened.

Athena chuckled and walked back to speak with her fellow snipers, her optics rolling as Buzzer continued to stand there.

* * *

"You put him in his place," baby-blue optics smirked with triumph. For a moment, the cadet had actually believed Echo would accept his offer, and that had made his tanks cringe.

With a small giggle, Echo looked at Bumblebee. "No offense, but your brother isn't as attractive as all the gossip claims he is," she said, trying to hold back a fit of laughter. Her tail swayed about and flickered as she continued to walk alongside the cadet.

Bumblebee's spark fluttered somewhat at her words. Perhaps he had a chance now? This femme doesn't seem to be interested in the tall, thick-built mechs with dominant traits.

"You know he won't stop after a first encounter," Bumblebee dared to say, trying to seem playful. Echo raised an optic ridge and looked rather...disgusted. "How do other femmes get rid of him then?" she asked.

'Bee chuckled, "I wouldn't know, I've never heard of a femme telling him off."

Echo's optics widened, "Really? That's surprising."

"Ouch," Bumblebee said, smiling nonetheless, "I don't think orders from Prime himself would stop Buzzer from getting what he wants. Once he sets his mind to something, nothing can stop him."

Echo shrugged, "Dedicated, I'll give him that." For some reason, the minibot's fists clenched at the statement.

"Alright, let's get this tour on the road," Echo said, "We both have a big day tomorrow." Bumblebee glanced at her, unsure. "We do?"

The femme chuckled, "Yes. I'm looking for my partner and you are fighting to get a promotion." Her words made the mech nod in understanding, "Big day." He gestured for her to follow him as they rounded a corner and made down another hallway.

Rather than feel nervous for tomorrow, Bumblebee was excited to wake up in the morning, for once.

* * *

The next morning was foggy and cold, a perfect environment for training spec ops cadets. The forests surrounding the Autobot base were quiet, barely a howl or creek. This early in the day, the sun was just barely peeking out from the horizon, though at a very slow pace.

On the training fields, a large area of open space in the forest, Ultra Magnus and his sniper team stood facing a crowd of cadets. Fortunately, no one had showed up late and most were ready for training. A few recruits, however, were not used to being up so early in the morning and their optic shutters consistently fluttered. The only thing keeping them up was the cold that crept into one's circuits and made their joints freeze.

Behind the group was a makeshift obstacle course.

Last night, the Elite Guardsmen had created the maze using what construction materials were around base, as this compound used to be a mining and tree harvesting depot before the war. Large crates, planks, and tires were scattered throughout the field in an organized fashion. There were ramps, walls to climb, mud pits to swim through, and objects to hop over. It resembled the physical training stage of the Autobot boot camp in Iacon, but a more advanced and lengthy version.

"Form up!" called out a silver mech with white, dark gray-trimmed armor, "Ten by five!" Shortly after he gave the order, the inexperienced bots began to figure out a routine of lining up.

But of course, it was not quick enough for the mech. "Faster, recruits!"

Echo, who was standing near a rack full of the team's guns, lifted her battlemask and strode over towards her teammate in white, nudging him. "What do you think corporal?" she asked, gesturing her helm towards the still fidgeting about group. The mech sighed and smiled down at Echo. "I hope to Primus they turn up a good bunch. Not a good first impression by my standards," the officer whispered.

With a small chuckle, the femme stepped back in agreement, folding her servos over her chestplate. Inspecting the swarm, she was already analyzing those who would fit the description as scouts.

The neon green mech towards the front wouldn't likely get the role unless he got a paint job. Others that didn't have the body-type for gaining muscle and endurance wouldn't make it to the higher ranks either. Yet, this job wasn't just about being a tank.

"There will be three stages to your advanced training," Magus started, stepping forth to face his future soldiers. "The first is physicality and endurance. As a scout, you need to be in top condition for the highly dangerous missions you will be sent on. If you cannot keep up, you don't belong here. The second is mental and emotional conditioning. You will be seeing things out there that might compromise any other bot, but you need to be able to put aside your feelings for the mission."

A few cadets looked rather uncomfortable at that statement, their eyes wandering elsewhere in thought.

"The third section of your training will be cohesiveness. My snipers will pick teams of five to train as a squad. At the end of the section, there will be an event that will show how well you work in a group. Lastly, you will be training for your final test. We will be relocating to an area to test you all individually on an assigned task. Those with the higher scores will be considered for the rank of scout." Magnus turned to the silver mech who has spoken before and nodded to him.

"Your entire training will last approximately a quartex, each section being seven solar cycles long," said the corporal. "During this time, you will also report to the armory for a period of time every day to learn about the weapons you'll be handling on the field. We have already sent the daily schedule to your personal datapads that I suggest you take a look at."

At this point, at least half of the recruits looked scared scrapless. They tried to hide their wide-optic looks and stay standing at attention, but the experienced Guardsmen could easily see past it.

"One more thing, recruits," Magnus addressed, earning the gaze of fifty bots, "My snipers and I will be keeping a close optic on you all every day. Every day you will be scored on your performance to your assigned tasks, endurance, attention to detail, and behavior. So stay sharp. Your scores from the previous day will be put up in the mess hall during breakfast every morning."

Echo finally spotted the yellow and black mech.

She was impressed to see a calm and attentive look on his faceplates, while his neighboring cadets wore scared and shocked ones. The femme took note of this and moved on with her inspections. Her battlemask lowered once again so that her highly advanced AI could send her information on the cadet's according to their enlistment applications and background checks.

Lightning flashed across the cloudy gray sky and thunder began to rumble. Echo couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she saw a mech flinch and look up to the sky as if it were a bad omen.

The corporal tapped Echo on her shoulder and she looked up at him. His aqua blue optics smirked for him. "They haven't even finished day one and they're already purging their tanks," he said. Echo smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'm willing to bet half of these guys worked in the mining ops before coming here," she retorted back, getting a chuckle out of the corporal.

Magnus then had the bots shift their block so that the five bots to the side were now facing the obstacle course. The maze was big enough to fit more, but the Guardsmen wanted to be able to have five snipers focus on a single bot each time. Echo, Magnus, Athena, the corporal, and two other mechs stayed behind to watch the group from afar.

"Anything of note amongst these mechs and femmes?" the captain inquired of Echo. The femme shrugged, "Not much to say, sir. Most of them come from the labor class and have at least one or more family members enlisted. Though, there are a couple of oddballs in there." Magnus raised an optic ridge, "Such as?"

"Jetwing, sir," Echo reported, pointing towards a black femme with orange and white armor. "What about her?" the corporal asked, his optics narrowing at the femme towards the back of the line.

The blue and gold mech from the other day told the first five cadets, all mechs, to get ready to run the course. They were a few steps ahead of the group and were crouched down, either looking at each other or at the course ahead.

Goldgear, as they called him, waited a few moments before shouting "go!". The five cadets took off, going up the first obstacle, which was a ramp.

Echo turned from watching the start and glanced at Ultra Magnus. "Jetwing is a high class from Vos, and as her name hints towards, she's a flyer. The only flyer in this batch."

The corporal smirked, "Not sure that 'wing' always hints towards being a flyer." Echo laughed, "You are half and half, 'Silver." The mech grinned back and let her continue with her report.

"There's no clear record on her creators. On her application, she left the space for sire and carrier blank."

"Mechs and femmes leave it blank all the time," Athena spoke up, watching the recruits figure out the course. "Her parents could be aligned with the Decepticons and she defected from her family." Magnus dipped his helm, "We'll have to keep two optics on her then. Anything else?"

Echo shook her helm, "No, sir. Besides that and a couple older mechs and femmes with sparklings at home, just the standard bunch. Nothing special." The femme sighed, knowing there actually was somebody special in that group occupying her mind. She scanned over the block, seeing that Bumblebee was two rows from being next.

The first five cadets had already finished the course, though, at different times, and were heaving on the far side of the field. They were covered in mud and grit, and a couple of them might have purged their tanks.

"Ugh," exclaimed one of the other mechs near Echo, "Endurance isn't a strong trait amongst them."

Up next were three mechs and two femmes, the former giving the latter discouraging looks. Echo frowned at that, believing that even though femmes were normally physically inferior to mechs, they more than made up for it in spirit and dedication. In fact, when Goldgear told them to begin, the femmes used their agility and speed to their advantage, beating at least two of the mechs in their times.

"Bet those mechs are having second thoughts," Athena said to her friend. Both fembots laughed, having faced males like them many times in their own training within the Guard.

"Gender doesn't matter," Magnus said in agreement, "Whether or not you can get the job done matters. Those mechs will only damage their cohesive scores by acting like that."

Bumblebee was overall calm as he waited patiently for his chance to run the obstacle course. His fellow Autobots didn't exactly feel the same, but he had the mindset that he would do his best no matter what. Since meeting the sniper femme, he felt more motivated to put on a good show.

And that is exactly what he did.

Being a minibot, 'Bee had an advantage over the others. His smaller build gave him speed and acrobatic skill. Paired against a single femme and three larger mechs, the cadet crouched down and waited for the Guardsmen to give the call. As soon as the mech heard the word, he took off.

Sprinting up the ramp, Bumblebee did what no other bot had done yet. He slid down the other side and used the speed boost to propel himself towards the next obstacle. Metal planks normally used for construction had been nailed together and tied down to create a wall that was easily three times 'Bee's height. He easily scaled the barrier and threw his peddes over to the other side. Instead of climbing back down, the bot jumped and landed, bending his knees and rolling forwards to cushion the impact.

Echo's optics widened at the display and she looked towards her fellow Guardsmen, who wore the same look. "Impressive," Magnus said, though his faceplates remained stoic and scrutinizing.

The others in Bumblebee's group were significantly slower than he was, and were still at the wall by the time he reached the second ramp. As he slid down, he made impact with the mud pit, though maintained his balance. This was easily the obstacle the recruits would hate the most, as it got grit and sludge into their circuits that would have to be cleaned out later.

'Bee crawled through the mud, as there were pipes arranged that prevented one from standing on their peddes. However, he used the pipes to get through the pit faster and help him stand up at the end.

The femme he ran the course with, who was a tad bit faster than the three mechs who were older and had less drive, saw how he ran the course and copied his movements, leading her to quicken her pace as well.

"Leadership skills right there," Athena said, nudging Echo teasingly. Her friend's tail whacked her in annoyance, causing the sniper to yelp in surprise.

After another ramp and wall, there was a long dash to the end of the training field. Bumblebee and the femme sprinted across it, with the mech finishing a good thirty nanokliks before the femme. Their times were scored and then walked over to where the other bots were sitting down and resting.

"You're staring," Athena whispered to Echo, then walking away before she could be hit by that tail again. The other femme growled and waved her off.

Silverwing turned to her and scoffed, "Didn't think we'd find anyone like that in this bunch. Think he'll make it?"

Echo glanced back over at the yellow and black cadet, a smile playing on her face. "Oh I'm betting on it."

 **a/n: Sorry for the long wait guys! I've been busy with other projects, but I was able to finish editing this one today :) Please don't forget to let me know what you think and make sure to stop by soon for Chapter 4. I'm really excited to get back to this story and stick with it this time, lol. I want to thank 3luv4eva3 and JJ for their reviews, you guys are awesome!**

 **Thanks again,**

 **~Echo**


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